


For the passion we share

by FreeSwimmingLady



Category: Free!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Coach Tachibana Makoto, Future Fic, How Do I Tag, Multi, My First Fanfic, Post-Free! Eternal Summer, Swim Team, Swimming, Tokyo (City), University
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 09:39:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4559766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreeSwimmingLady/pseuds/FreeSwimmingLady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story is about passion, about dreams, about friendship, about the future. It is my continuation of Free! Eternal summer! </p>
<p>Join Haruka as he struggles to find his place in his new university swim team, as he makes new friends but also deepens the friendship to his old friends and see how his indescribable passion for swimming free deepens as he meets more people sharing his passion and love for swimming!</p>
<p>Characters will be tagged as they appear!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro: A new start

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys!  
> This story is my continuation of Free! Eternal summer!  
> It is not about love and ships. There will be at least one small love story I planned to add (maybe even more, but I'm not sure about that...Depends on what the characters decide to do), but the focus lies on Haru's life and development at university and his way towards a career as an Olympic swimmer.
> 
> I'm not a writer and English isn't my first language, but I just had to express my love for Free! and this wonderful and inspiring character I feel so close to! I'm deeply thankful to the creators of Free! and the author of HighSpeed since this anime made me regain my love for swimming and 'meeting' Haru helped my over some complicated and depressing phases of my live.  
> Have fun!

# A new start

"Please!!! Don't ignore the trainers and jump into the water right away, Haru! You first have to meet you team mates and introduce yourself to everyone! Don't ignore them! They don't know you like we do! They can't read you, Haru!! And be nice and polite to the older students on the team. Don't just call them by their first names!! And please call them 'senpai'! I know you won't like this, but it's for the best! Please Haru, just..."  
  
A long sight left Haru's mouth as he was standing in front of the Tokyo U Aquatic Centre, remembering Makoto's words from the night before.  
  
Maybe Makoto would still be going on with his speech, if it wasn't for Haru to just turn around and walk to the front door at the end of their movie night at Makoto's dorm room. He really was happy that Makoto cared so much for him. But sometimes it was just a little bit too much. Makoto in his 'mother-hen-mode' really was a handful!  
When he was about to leave Makoto grabbed the hem of his shirt and said "Wait, Haru-Chan! I'm sorry! Sometimes I'm really overdoing it, right?" He heard his friend giggle at the last sentence. Turning around, saying his standard reply "Drop the -chan", he was met with Makoto's blinding signature smile. His friend tilted his head and with a "Have fun on you first day on the Tokyo U team!" let go of his shirt's hem. He had given him a small smile, murmured a "Thank you!" and had left for his own small apartment. "Good night, Makoto!"  
  
Right now Haruka was standing in front of the Aquatic Centre, to join his university's swim team for their first training of the new semester. He grabbed the shoulder strap of his bag just a little bit tighter than before... Yes, he really was starting to feel a little bit nervous... He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and thought about the pool at the Aquatic Centre in Sydney. He remembered the peace and freedom that he felt while standing on the starting block , but also his accelerating heart beat imagining the place full of spectators cheering for the competitors, the excitement he felt while he imagined swimming with the best swimmers of the world, feeling their energy pushing him forward faster and faster. That was the reason he was here for! He breathed out, opened his blue eyes which were sparkling with determination and moved forward.

**To the future!**


	2. YouTube-star?!?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There's a video?" He murmured.  
> "Yeah! There is!" Nanazawa shoved him out of the shower from behind.  
> Find out why Haru's new team mates call him YouTube-star!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter one. it's longer than the introduction.  
> Hope you enjoy it!

# YouTube-star?!?

As Haruka entered the changing rooms he directly felt the heavy and unfriendly atmosphere: All the guys had stopped talking the moment he opened the door and he was net with at least ten pairs of critical and measuring eyes. He gripped his bag's strap again and murmured a quiet "Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

One of the guys, as tall as Makoto, but more slender, with orange eyes and blond hair and a horse-like face stepped forward. 'Hmmmpf! If it isn't our new star swimmer! Nanase, the YouTube-star! How are you feeling your majesty?" He walked past Haruka and bumped his shoulder. And it definitely was intended to hurt.  
Haruka felt himself falling backwards but some strong hands secured his shoulders. "Be careful! We wouldn't want one of our new kohais to be hurt, right?" Friendly light brown eyed looked down on Haruka (Yes, it really seemed as if everybody on this damn swim team was taller than him...). "Nice to meet you, Nanase-san! I'm Nagasato Ken, your new captain!" He ruffled his short chocolate brown hair and then held his hand out to Haruka, a soft smile grazing around his lips. Haruka took his hand without hesitation and said "Nice to meet you too, Nagasato-Senpai!" (Wow, Makoto would be really proud of him...)  
"Didn't hear you coming, captain... Sorry..." the horse faced guy said. And then he and his gang left the changing room with some murmured "See you later, YouTube-star", "Don't let us drown with you!" and "What a failure!"...  
"Oh wow, wow, wow!!! He's even cuter than in the video!! Even cuter than most of the girls here! Wow they really will envy you for this beautiful face, Haruka-chan!!" A curly mop of unorganized green hair popped up behind the captain. Sparkling, pink eyes, not unlike Nagisa's looked at him...  
...and were gone when captain Nagasato put his head down in an abrupt, but not unfriendly movement. "Oi! Keiko-Chan! That's not how you should greet your new team mates. Show some respect!!" He ruffled the smaller (but still taller than Haruka) boy's hair and let go of him.  
Keiko, as obviously was his name, showed his tongue, followed by a big smile and said "Sorry, sorry captain! But it's too late now! I already greeted both out new members like this!" He gestured the door behind himself. There a boy of Haruka's stature and nearly the same height, with a little bit longer, straight turquoise hair and dark green, small, a little bit tired looking eyes, framed by orange (wow, this guy was a crazy mixture of all different colors) glasses straightened himself up, made a bow and nearly screamed at them " Ni...ni..nice to meet you! My name is Shimune Kazuhiro, I'm from Nagasaki and my specialty is butterfly!"  
Shimune nearly fell forward, straight into Haruka, when Keiko padded his back. "Don't be so formal Kazu-chi!! We're a team now!!" He smiled at Haruka. "Akizuki Keiko my name! But just call me Keiko!" He looked at the captain who eyed him with critical eyes and added. "Nice to meet you, Haruka-chan!"  
Haruka looked down and murmured a "Just Haru is fine..." "Alright, then it's 'Haru-chan'! Let's hurry up and get ready!!" Keiko turned around and run to his locker. "Drop the chan!" Haruka said, but the Green haired whirlwind was already out of earshot...

They had to hurry to get ready just to arrive in time for the practice to start. Their coaches introduced them self, then all new team members were introduced: Shimune was the only other male addition to the team, but a group of 4 girls had joined.  
Since the female team was pretty new (it was founded just 3 years ago as Haruka had learned during the short introduction), they had done a lot of recruiting in this area, while the male team was already crowded with a lot of talented swimmers.  
Actually some of Japan's best young swimmers found themselves together in this team. There was also an extracurricular activity swim team which would join them for the afternoon trainings. This was easier for the university than to get an extra trainer and set extra pool times for them. And the pool definitely was large enough to fit a lot of swimmers.  
Since it was the first training after summer break and the first time swimming in the unknown pool for the first years the trainers had decided to just have them swim lap after lap to get used to the pool and to strengthen their endurance...  
And checking out the techniques of the new team members was definitely also a reason... They had to train them at least for the coming year, so it was only natural for them to check out the given material and see if there eventually some diamond in the making could be found...  
The real training would start Tuesday afternoon. Then they would also meet the non-competitive swimmers. Not that Haruka cared about them. Just more people added to the crowd inside the pool. More people to interrupt the quiet and calming flow of the water, adding waves and turbulences where they weren't supposed to be...

On Wednesdays they were supposed to do some weight training to build up some more muscles. They were free to decide if they wanted to go in the morning or the afternoon. On Thursday another afternoon session was scheduled and on Friday they had another morning session, since many students were leaving the city for the weekend in the afternoon.  
It was also expected from them to fit in a second session of weight training into their schedule, but they were free to decide when. And if they had problems with their studies this was going to be the first session being cancelled.  
Haruka doubted that he would have problems with his studies. Since he had chosen arts as his major a lot of practical work was waiting for him. And 'history of art' was a theoretical course, he was sure he would be able to manage.  
And of course there were his English lessons. They would maybe become problematic, but it was expected of him to excel them too. As an athlete, swimming on the international stage, talking English was important to get along and to not get lost in this huge and intimidating professional world, which he planned to enter.

Haruka swam lap after lap, trying to get the things that happened inside the locker room out of his head or at least to understand what was going on with the horse faced guy, but he wasn't able to do so. The thoughts inside his head were running a marathon, going on and on... "What did the guy talk about YouTube? ", "Why, was he so unfriendly? ", "What did he do to him? ", "Was there another Haruka Nanase with some stupid YouTube-videos??"... No, the last option was impossible. After all Keiko had recognized him from this video... So who the hell had uploaded a video of him on YouTube??

He got some answers in the shower after training: Captain Nagasato came to his side, padded his shoulder and said: "Don't worry about Nanazawa, Nanase-san. Just concentrate on your swimming and show him that you are serious about it. He will definitely get it at some point! And I'm pretty sure that our trainers had a good reason to scout you!! So I'm looking forward to swimming more with you! Failing in a race can happen to any swimmer and you definitely showed in the relay at nationals that you're over it!"  
Haru felt his blood running cold. His vision got blurry and he really had to try really hard to keep his breath under control as his heart started to beat faster and faster. There was a video of the regional race on YouTube?!?! "There's a video?" He murmured. "Yeah! There is!" Nanazawa shoved him out of the shower from behind. "Just search for 'Iwatobi, swimming, regionals, failure!'... No chance to miss it! Hahaha!" And with a barking laugh he left in the direction of his locker.  
Haruka heard him scream "Hey guys! There's something really funny! Our YouTube-star didn't even know that he was so famous here! Can you believe it!!! It's not like this video hasn't been sent from swimmer to swimmer all over Japan!!"

"Nanase...?" The captain looked at him, a sorrowful and questioning look on his face. "Don't worry! I'll try to get this under control!" His hand reached for Haruka's shoulder, but Haru shoved it off and with a tired "It's fine." he made his way to his locker.

But actually nothing was fine. He felt like he was standing back there in the prefectural pool, like the water was rejecting him all over again. He felt like crying. But he didn't want to be this weak. Now that he finally had found his dream, he couldn't break down again. Especially not on his first day.  
Body still wet from the shower, he slipped his clothes on without using his towel. Normally he only was fast in getting rid of his clothes, especially when a tank filled with water was near, but he just had to get out of this place. He took his sport bag and left, ignoring Keiko's worried "Haru-chan....?"

He would have loved to just go home to his apartment or, even better to the house back in Iwatobi, to stay in the bath tub for the rest of the day and sort out all the thoughts inside his head. But he had to attend his classes. He couldn't make a bad impression on his very first day at university.

It was really hard for him to follow the different lectures. All he remembered after a day filled with painting exercised (not for him actually, since he was only staring at his blank canvas for the whole time) was that the first art project they had to do was a painting in water color with the "simple" title "Myself". They had to paint, what they thought made them special. Haruka already hated the project, since he never liked being called special...  
And just paint the water or him swimming wouldn't be enough, maybe... When his thoughts stopped on swimming his stomach took a turn around, he started to feel really sick and only one word came to his mind:  
**FAILURE**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys,  
> I'm back way earlier than I planned too, but since the introduction was so short (I guess my notes had more text than the actual chapter -.- ) I decided to release chapter 1 a little bit earlier. Hope you liked it!
> 
> Edit: changed Shimunes speciality to butterfly


	3. New and old friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Now I understand what Rin meant when he said you're more like the mother than the captain of the Iwatobi team. He really was right..." Sousuke deadpanned. "Sousukeeee!!! I'm not!" Makoto whined. "You definitely are!"
> 
> Sousuke joins the 'Tokyo-crew'!

# New and old friends

After his classes Haruka had an appointment with Makoto. He was really looking forward to see his best friend and his reassuring smile, which almost never failed to make him feel better. And maybe Makoto had a good idea what the best action course would be to handle his YouTube- problem.  
But all his hopes where removed in an instant, when it wasn't just Makoto by himself waiting for him in front of the Takoyaki restaurant. Haruka was really tempted to just turn around, go home and soak in the tub until it was time to get to bed, when he realized that the person standing next to Makoto was Sousuke Yamazaki. Sure, they had gotten over their problematic relationship of the past while teaming up in the survival game at Samezuka's cultural festival. And even if he didn't call Sousuke his friend, they had reached first name basis and he definitely wouldn't call him his enemy. But now he just longed for some time with his best friend. Alone...  
Haruka tried to suppress the anger, which started to boil up inside his stomach. But he couldn't go on with their planned evening program without a disapproving look at Sousuke. Said guy looked to the side and murmured "Sorry, Makoto just dragged me along. I wasn't able to say 'no'. But I can go, if you..." "No, no, no!! Sousuke-san! You're not going anywhere!" Makoto interrupted the tall, teal eyed guy. And with a lecturing look he turned to Haruka "Guess what Haru!?!? Sousuke also decided to become a swim teacher! And we both landed on the same university's program! Isn't this a really great coincidence?? Isn't it nice to have someone else we already know here in this big city?!?! I'm sure we all will get along just fine!! You're okay with him joining us for dinner, right Haru-chan?" He smiled at Haruka. But it wasn't his kind and friendly signature smile. The smile he gave Haruka right now was more like the opposite of this well-known 'Makoto-typical' smile: It felt more like a thread than anything else. And Haruka knew that acting against Makoto's will when he gave this smile was like asking for trouble. BIG trouble! So he decided to play along... He sighed and with a "Sure, it's fine..." he made his way into the restaurant, followed by the two aspiring swimming teachers.

While they waited for their dishes Haruka listened to the two others talking about their first lectures. They both seemed to be really excited and happy about their choices. Sousuke also seemed to be a lot happier than before. He had another surgery on his shoulder and had now to do some physiotherapy, but since he already knew all the exercises from before he could do them on his own at the university's gym and didn't have to miss out on his lectures. He didn't plan on swimming competitively again, but he definitely wanted to swim again, even if it was just for fun. This time he wanted to take it slow, without any pressure. And to prevent others from making the same mistakes that he did, he wanted to become a swim coach.  
He really seemed at peace with what had happened in his life so far and Haruka couldn't deny that he was happy for him. They had their problems with each other, but Haruka realized that Sousuke just wanted to protect Rin. The same way Haruka would always try to protect Makoto.  
And the happenings at regionals only proved, that Haruka really was a bad influence. So maybe it was just right, that Sousuke wanted to protect Rin from being too close to this failure. Prevent him from being dragged down by him...

"...ru??... Haru??" He looked up at Makoto, who showed him a worried look. "What is it?" he asked. "You just totally zoomed out. He already said your name like 5 times..." Sousuke said. "Oh... I'm sorry!" he felt his cheeks heat up... "It's okay. But are you alright??" Makoto said, still looking slightly worried...  
"I guess he just misses the water already!" Sousuke chuckled... "So how was your first training? Guess it's hard to fit in a new team? Are they already calling you funny names like 'dolphin' or 'human mackerel'???" Sousuke chuckled and winked at Haruka.  
"Sousukeeee!!! " Makoto scolded him. "Don't be so mean!! I'm sure Haru is doing his best to be nice to his team mates!!" he looked at Haruka with a hopeful look in his green eyes "Am I right Haru?? You maybe just told them to call you 'Haru', right??" with his last words Makoto shot a disapproving look at Sousuke.  
"They already had a nickname for me..." Haruka murmured. "What did you say?" The other two said in perfect unison. Makoto did so with a worried look on his face. Sousuke's look was smugger. He leant back in his chair and shot Makoto a look that said 'I told you so.'  
"So what is it??" He said. "Mackerel lover? Dolphin? Aquaman?" He smiled at his own creativity... (author's note: Wow Sou-chan, I'm so impressed!! Sorry, wasn't able to come up with better nicknames!)

"'YouTube-star'" Haru murmured, looking to the side and feeling his eyes sting from the tears he was already trying to hold back for the whole day.  
"What?!?!?!" Two pairs of surprised and unbelieving eyes looked at him. And again they had been in perfect unison... "H-h-how d-d-did they come up with this n-n-name, Haru-chan?" Makoto asked, eyes looking really worried. Just now he started to realize in what bad shape the events of this day had put his best friend in.  
Sousuke on the other hand didn't realize how bad Haruka was hurt and just went on with his jokes: "Don't tell me there is a porn video of you two doing funny stuff at YouTube?!?!"  
"SOUSUKE!!!" Makoto, face now red as a tomato, screamed at him. But when all the other customers of the restaurant turned their heads to their booth he realized his fault, face getting even redder, and hissed "How did you get this stupid idea??!! We aren't like that!! Right, Haru-chan?"  
But Haruka really wasn't in the mood, so he just ignored his best friend and went on: "It's... it's a video..." he now had the full attention of Sousuke and Makoto. It even felt like they hold their breath.  
"It's okay, Haru-chan. You can tell us." Makoto said and Sousuke, now also starting to realize Haruka's really depressed mood, nodded beside him.  
Haruka took a deep breath and said "It's a video from regionals..." He dropped his head, unable to stop the tears any longer. The silence following his statement proved, that they knew exactly what kind of video from regionals could put him in such a bad shape.

"Haru-chan..." Even Makoto didn't know what to say. "That's awful!" His best friend said with a pained voice....  
"Just type in 'Iwatobi, swimming, regionals, failure' is what they said..." Haruka went on.  
He heard Sousuke taking in a deep breath: "Wow! What the f*ck" was the first thing he said. "Now I understand why you seem so out of it today..." he murmured afterwards, so low Haruka nearly wasn't able to hear him.

Makoto on the other hand was back in his 'mother-hen-mode': "Oh Haru-chan... Don't worry too much!" He padded Haruka's shoulder. "I' m sure you guys will work this out! Just talk to them! Try to explain them what happened! I'm sure they will eventually understand!"  
Haruka was negative about this idea. He wasn't good at talking and he wasn't even sure if they were willing to understand him...  
But before he could say something Sousuke broke out in a fit of barking laughter "You are really telling HIM..." He gestured at Haruka "...to **talk** things out?!?! That's unbelievable!! Sometimes you're really too naive, Makoto!!!"

Despite thinking himself that the idea wasn't as brilliant as Makoto maybe thought it was, Haruka felt mildly offended by Sousuke's reaction.  
But before he could say something about it Sousuke started to talk again. "These people seem to be a**holes, trying to piss him off or to stir his insecurities so that he isn't able to give it his all! There is only one thing he can do to shut those idiots up!! And I'm sure he is better at this than he is at talking." He slammed his fist on the table. "Damn! You just have to shut them up with you swimming!! Show them how serious you are about this and they will leave you alone!!"  
Wow! That actually made sense to Haruka. This was something he really could do!  
But his train of thought was interrupted: "Sousuke!!!" Makoto whined. "You can't call Haru's teammates a**holes and idiots!! That's not nice!!" Makoto interrupted him. "Why not?! If they are a**holes and idiots I should be able to call them so" "Sousukeeee! Stop it, please!!!" Makoto whined.

"Now I understand what Rin meant when he said you're more like the mother than the captain of the Iwatobi team. He really was right..." Sousuke deadpanned. "Sousukeeee!!! I'm not!" Makoto whined. "You definitely are!"

At Sousuke's comment Haruka really had to suppress his laughter. Their teal eyed friend was just so right!  
Wait!!! When did he even start to think of Sousuke as a friend???  
When the other two started their banter he just couldn't stop the bubbling laughter that escaped him. He turned his head to the side and covered his mouth with both of his hands. But it was too late: Both his friends looked at him in amazement. "Haruuuuuu..." Makoto scolded, but Haruka could hear that he was actually smiling.  
"I'm...I'm... I'm sorry Makoto, but he is just so right!" He was still giggling like a school girl. "And your idea really sucks." He added, while removing the tears from his eyed (This time formed not from crying but from laughing to hard). Makoto started pouting.  
"Sousuke is right:" Haruka went on "It's a problem about my swimming and so I'll have to solve it with my swimming!"  
He gave them a confident smile.  
Maybe having Sousuke here in Tokyo with them would really be great! He got the feeling that they perhaps would be able to really become friends. At least today Sousuke had really helped him out. And he even had managed to make him laugh. The other two smiled at him and they resumed their conversation and discussed Haruka's training schedule and even his art project.

Afterward they said goodbye in front of the restaurant. Makoto and Sousuke's dorm was in the opposite direction to his flat. Sousuke turned to him and said "I'm sorry again for intruding on your evening today, Haru! It won't happen again!"  
"No!" Haruka said. He turned his head to the side feeling slightly embarrassed about the words he was about to say and murmured "It was fun. And you really helped me."  
He looked back at Sousuke's surprised face, feeling his cheeks heat up with a tiny smile he added "...a lot." Sousuke's surprised face formed into a wide grin. "Yeah, it really was fun! Hope you kick their asses! See you soon, Haru!" "Good night, Haru-chan! I'll call you tomorrow!" Makoto added and with a wave he and Sousuke turned around and walked in the direction of their dorms.

Haruka looked at their backs with a smile on his face (they again had started to discuss the 'mother-hen-issue'): He really have had a nice time and what surprised him even more was that he really felt energized and optimistic! He turned around and walked towards the train station, smile still on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!  
> Hope you liked this chapter!  
> In my opinion Sousuke and Haru definitely have to become friends in the future, since they are so similar to each other and I'm sure they would be able to understand each other pretty well if they just tried. That's why I definitely had to make Sousuke join them in Tokyo... He can help Haru in a way Makoto can't and maybe give him some new impulses.


	4. Stormy sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanazawa leaned to him and whispered into his ear: "Can you see this loser? I will crash you the same way!" Haruka snorted. He wouldn't lose without a fight. This was his chance to shut up Nanazawa's mouth! And he was eager to take this chance! 
> 
> Haruka takes Sousuke's advice.  
> Will he be able to shut Nanazawa up?

\----- inside the girl's locker room --------  
"Hey, Haru-chan!! Nice to see you again! How has you break been?" Natsuko, the captain of the Tokyo U girls team had her in a bear hug and jumped up and down like a rubber ball. "I really, really missed you!!" The girl with the short, spiky red hair and pircing green eyes really had too much energy. And it was really contaminating. No wonder she was chosen as captain, she was just perfect for the job. Harumi couldn't resist to give her a wide grin. She herself felt pretty energized and was looking forward to go back to the pool. "It's nice to see you too, Natsuko-senpai! But shouldn't you be more excited to see the real team member?? After all, I'm just here for my extracurricular activity." Smiling at Natsuko, Harumi put her long, blond and wavy hair into a braid.  
"Awwww... Don't worry Haru-chan! I already greeted them yesterday! And please, please, please stop calling me 'senpai'!!! I hate it when you're so formal! We're friends after all!" The older girl whined. Ah, that's right: The competitive swim team had started their practice the day before. "You're right! I'm sorry, Natsuko!

"Haru-chan, Natsuko-chan! How was your break??" "Hi Yumi-chan! Good to see you! I heard you got hurt! Are you able to swim?"Harumi asked. Yumi Nafumara was a member of the non-competitive team, and since Harumi was one of the leaders it was important to be sure if all the member were alright before sending them into the water... And she got word that Yumi hurt her foot during the break. "Don't worry! I'm alright. It wasn't something to be worried about, just a minor injury. Did you go back to America during the break, Haru-chan?" "No, I didn't. But I already told you that I lost the contact to my family over there a long time ago..." "Awwww... Haru-chan... I'm so disappointed! What good is it for to be half-American if you never go there!!" Yumi pouted... "It's not good at all. Just makes me feel alien... Especially with my blue eyed and blond hair..." Harumi answered.  
"Don't worry about your eyes! The new cutie on the boys team has eyes of the same color and beauty!" Another girl of the competitive team joined their conversation. "You're talking about Haruka-chan?? He's soooo cute!!! You just want to take him home with you!!", "Yeah! He is!! But it will be hard for him since Nanazawa has chosen him to be his new victim."  
This got Harumi's attention. "What are you talking about?" Unbelievable that Nanazawa had again started to disturb the boy's team again. This guy really was trouble... Natsuko shoved her Phone at her:"Look at the video, then you know what they're talking about!"  
Harumi watched the video and felt her heart hurt for this poor guy. So that was Nanazawa's problem. But she wouldn't respect this. Not again! Not after his behavior when Keiko had joined the competitive team!

\----- In front of the locker rooms ------  
When he left the locker room, horse face was already waiting for him. "Hey, YouTube-star! Any plans on swimming today? Or will you just stand in the pool and enjoy the view??!! Maybe you can see how real swimmers swim!"  
"Hey Nanazawa, can you please stop it! You gad enough fun on his expenses!" Keiko interrupted him and in an attempt to calm him down he reached for his shoulder. Nanazawa aggressively shoved him to the side. "Don't interrupt me, looser! And never try touching me again! Funny, that the 2 losers of the team already befriended each other! And don't be jealous: You will get you treatment too! I'm not done with you yet!" He grabbed Haruka's left arm: "I really feel like throwing up, looking at your face! Don't ever get in my way, YouTube-star!"

"Nanazawa, stop this bullsh*t!" A girl in a bathing suit with long blond hair and angry looking blue eyes ran to them. She shoved Nanazawa's hand away and and settled herself between him and Haruka. "Stop bullying other people! You'll ruin the whole team with your attitude!" Wow, the girl was even shorter than Haruka but she stood on front of the tall Nanazawa as if she was the taller one. There was no sign of fear, only an angry fire was burning in her blue eyes.  
Nanazawa touched her face "Calm down, baby! This wimp isn't worth your precious time! How about you finally agree to go out with me and I let him be?" He licked his lips.  
The girl shoved his hand away and gave him a disgusted look. "I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last person on the planet! You are just an idiot with some serious self confidence issues." She hissed. "Oh! Stop this bullsh*t! You're not even a part of the real team!!" At his words Haruka saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. But as fast as it came it was gone and she was back to her strong, feisty self. "Even if I'm not a competitive swimmer, I'm also part of the team. The team you're about to ruin... But it's no surprise that you don't get it!" Nanazawa snorted and with one last arrogant look at her he turned around, saying "I get it, Rumi-chan, you prefer losers over real men! Then it shall be like that! But don't come back begging after I kicked this cockroach out of the team!" He left to the pool.

The blond girl turned around to face him and her eyes softened: "It's nice to meet you, Nanase-san! But let's hurry! You don't want to be late for the first real training, right?" She turned around and followed Nanazawa to the pool. Haruka followed her, but still felt a little bit irritated. It was funny looking at eyes that were so similar to his own, he nearly felt like drowning. Especially since this girl was so different from him: Her face was so much more expressive than his own. She seemed to give no problem giving other people this beautiful and open smile.

Arriving at the pool, he saw her talking to the head trainer. Afterwards he called all the people of the competitive group to him while the other students gathered for warm up.  
"So guys! I heard there are some problems with one of our new team additions!?!" Head trainer Harada barked "That's why I'm telling the following to all of you: " he looked each of the team members into the eyes, before he resumed his speech: "I especially chose Nanase-san to be a part of this team. I'm aware of the existing video, but I also have faith in his talent and I'm sure he want disappoint the team! So I want you all to accept him as a proper member of this team! So, go and warm up!! You're dismissed!" And with these words he joined his co trainers to talk about the schedule for this training.  
While passing him Nanazawa whispered into his ear "Don't think we're done here, YouTube-star!" Haruka just ignored him and went to the pool to swim warm up laps.

After warm up, they were called by Harada: So, to start with the real training we will have some duells: First I want to have Nagasato and Akizuki in a butterfly race. Afterwards Nagazawa and Nanase in freestyle! The next pairing will be..." Haruka's mind went blank and he didn't hear any of the other pairings. And he realized that also the other members on the team were a little bit surprised by this turn of the events.  
Captain Nagasato turned to Harada and and said "Are you sure about all these pairings, coach?" Harada snorted " Why shouldn't I be sure! Don't beat about the bush Nagasato! What's your problem??" Nagasato blinked into the direction of Haruka "Don't you think it's too hard to have a first year compete against a third year? Especially at the first training sessions?!" Harada started to laugh: "Ha ha ha! Why should it be hard? He will have to go after third years in every upcoming competition! Or are you too afraid to go up against Nanazawa, Nanase?" They both looked at Haruka. "I'm not afraid, coach Harada. I can do it!" he murmured.

"Alright! Then we'll start! Nagasato, Akizuki! On your marks! You will race 100m!"

When they reached the turn, captain Nagasato was already in the lead. There was no chance, Keiko could keep up with his speed.  
Nanazawa leaned to him and whispered into his ear: "Can you see this loser? I will crash you the same way!" Haruka snorted. He wouldn't lose without a fight. This was his chance to shut up Nanazawa's mouth! And he was eager to take this chance!  
After their race Keiko was complimented by the captain and the coach for his improving times. He wasn't disappointed at all, despite losing by more than 2 seconds. "Thanks for racing me captain! It was a pleasure!" He bowed and winked at captain Nagasato. The captain ruffled his hair "Don't be so cocky, Keiko! It would be a real, real pleasure if you would finally start your show some real respect for you senpai!" Keiko shot him a wide grin as he moved on with his speach. "But it is indeed impressive how much you have improved! Keep on going like this!"  
Nanazawa snorted besides Haruka... "What a loser!" He stepped up onto the starting block and looked expectantly at Haruka. "Let's get you crushed YouTube-star!" "Good luck trying!" Haruka gave him an arrogant grin, trying to ignore the nervousness bubbling inside his stomach. He just had to do this!  
He looked around the pool, thinking of Sydney. At the far end a pair of blue eyes caught his attention: The blonde girl from before nodded and gave him a beaming and reassuring smile. Yes, he would do this!

"On your marks!" Harada screamed. Haruka stepped up onto the starting block and fixed his swimming goggles.  
"Ready!" He moved his hands to his feed and looked to the front.  
"Set!" He bowed his knees just a little bit and felt all his muscles tense. Ready to enter the water.  
"Go!" With all he got he leaped from the starting block into his beloved water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was the next chapter.  
> Sorry for the little cliffy. I decided to split the actual chapter into two, since it got too long in comparison with the previous ones.  
> And I'm also sorry for the wait: I wasn't able to write on my way from and to work. They changed the transport for two weeks from tram to bus and reading (and writing) on a bus makes me feel nauseous....

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys,  
> this is just a small introduction for my planned Free! continuation story. Don't worry: The normal chapters will be longer thann this short introduction. I'm planning with 1000 to 2000 words for each chapter. I like long chapters myself, but since I want to update at least every fortnight, I decided on shorter chapters. To give myself a headstart the fist 3 chapters are already done, but I want post them all at once... First I have to see, how much writing I can get done per week, since I only have time for writing on my way toand back from work. And if one of my favorite fics here is updated over night I'd rather spent this time reading instead of writing. ;-)  
> Hope this introdiction, despite being short made you hungry for more!  
> Kind regards!


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